Army: Deployment

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average tour interval of each infantry battalion in the Army was in the latest period for which figures are available.

Bob Ainsworth: The average tour interval for the infantry as a whole is 26 months. The current tour intervals for individual infantry battalions are provided in the following table:
	
		
			  Unit deployed  Last operational deployment (as a unit)  Start date  Previous operational deployment (as a unit)  End date  Last unit tour interval (months) 
			 1 Grenadier Guards Afghanistan May 2007 Iraq September 2006 8 
			 1 Coldstream Guards Afghanistan October 2007 Iraq October 2005 23 
			 1 Scots Guards Iraq December 2007 Iraq April 2005 31 
			 1 Irish Guards Iraq June 2007 Northern Ireland March 2004 38 
			 1 Welsh Guards Afghanistan April 2009 Balkans April 2007 24 
			 1 Scots(1) Iraq December 2007 Iraq May 2006 17 
			 2 Scots Afghanistan April 2008 Iraq December 2005 28 
			 3 Scots Afghanistan April 2009 Iraq January 2005 51 
			 4 Scots Iraq June 2008 Iraq May 2006 25 
			 5 Scots Afghanistan April 2008 Balkans October 2005 29 
			 1 PWRR Iraq December 2008 Iraq December 2006 24 
			 2 PWRR Iraq January 2005 Northern Ireland December 2003 12 
			 1 RRF Iraq June 2008 Iraq May 2006 25 
			 2 RRF Afghanistan April 2009 Northern Ireland November 2003 64 
			 1 R Anglian Afghanistan May 2007 Iraq October 2005 18 
			 2 R Anglian Iraq June 2008 Iraq October 2006 20 
			 1 Lanes(2) Iraq December 2007 n/a — — 
			 2 Lanes(2) Iraq November 2006 n/a — — 
			 1 Yorks Iraq December 2008 Iraq May 2007 18 
			 2 Yorks Afghanistan October 2007 Balkans September 2006 13 
			 3 Yorks Iraq November 2004 Balkans June 2001 40 
			 1 R Welsh Cyprus May 2007 Northern Ireland January 2006 15 
			 2 R Welsh Iraq June 2007 Iraq October 2005 19 
			 1 Mercian Iraq December 2007 Iraq October 2004 37 
			 2 Mercian Afghanistan April 2009 Afghanistan November 2007 16 
			 3 Mercian Iraq November 2006 Iraq October 2005 12 
			 1 Rifles(3) Afghanistan October 2008 Iraq November 2006 23 
			 2 Rifles Afghanistan April 2009 Iraq May 2007 23 
			 3 Rifles Iraq September 2006 Northern Ireland March 2005 17 
			 4 Rifles Iraq June 2007 Balkans October 2001 67 
			 5 Rifles Iraq December 2008 Iraq December 2006 24 
			 1 Royal Irish Afghanistan April 2008 Iraq December 2005 28 
			 2 Para Afghanistan April 2008 Iraq April 2006 24 
			 3 Para Afghanistan April 2008 Afghanistan October 2006 18 
			 1 RGR Afghanistan October 2007 Balkans March 2006 18 
			 2 RGR Afghanistan October 2008 Afghanistan October 2005 37 
			  Notes: (1 )1 RS and 1 KOSB amalgamated in August 2006 to form 1 Scots. (2 )1 KORBR, 1 Kings and QLR amalgamated in July 2006 to form 1 Lancs and 2 Lancs. Because of the nature of this amalgamation it is not representative to carry forward the unit deployments of 1 KORBR, 1 Kings and QLR to 1 Lancs and 2 Lancs. (3) 1 RGBW and 1 DDLI amalgamated in March 2007 to form 1 Rifles.

Central Office of Information: Expenditure

Nick Hurd: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster with reference to the answer to Lord Cope of Berkeley of 19 November 2008,  Official Report,  House of Lords, column 193WA, on the Central Office of Information: expenditure, for what reasons the figure of £265.8 million expenditure on public relations, marketing and advertising given in the Answer differs from the £391 million expenditure figure published in the Central Office of Information's Annual Report and Accounts for 2007-08; and if he will publish an expenditure figure for 1996-97 using the same methodology as used to calculate the figure in the 2007-08 document.

Liam Byrne: The £265.8 million figure represents expenditure on public relations, marketing and advertising. The £391 million figure in the 2007-08 annual report is the total for all expenditure through COI, including for example costs relating to Directgov, public consultations, research, interactive services, publications and regional offices.
	In 1996-07 the total expenditure through COI was £125.9 million. The expenditure on public relations, marketing and advertising, unadjusted for inflation, was £81.2 million.
	The majority of the increased expenditure since 1996-07 is related to campaigns for public service recruitment, health and safety and new issues like climate change. The largest campaigns over the last year have been on Army recruitment, RAF recruitment, Act On C02, Alcohol Harm Reduction, Obesity and Road Safety.